While RiffTrax and Cinema Titanic periodically riffed live at local theaters, it was RiffTrax that gave its audience their own turn with iRiffs. Fans could record their own commentaries, upload them and sell them on the iRiff store. Today there are hundreds of user-created riffs on RiffTrax. Some funny, some serious. The iRiffers charge between $0.75 and $14.99 and make 50 percent of the sale.

“When ‘MST3K’ first went off the air a decade ago, there was a vacuum left because it was fairly unique,” said Cinematic For The People’s Hanson, who produces semimonthly riffs on public-domain movies. “Since then, a lot of different groups, both professional (The Film Crew/RiffTrax, Cinematic Titanic, Incognito Cinema Warriors XP) and ‘fan’ (Mystery Fandom Theater 3000, Mystery Spatula Theater 11) have tried to fill the void. With the technology finally catching up in the last few years, and with the launch of the iRiff platform through RiffTrax, it’s a lot easier to make riffs now.”

The tools and exposure encouraged amateurs, like Gary and Erin Wickering, to jump into riffing. The Des Moines, Iowa, couple hopes to turn it into a full-time job.

“Yes, this is more than a hobby. Anyone that has put out as many tracks as we have with a joke every 10 seconds on average, they’d have to be crazy to do it just for kicks,” said Gary Wickering, who with his wife is one of RiffTrax’s more-prolific riffers and better known as Gary and Erin Slasher of Hor.riff.ic.

PAVING THE WAY

“None of this could have been possible without RiffTrax offering us the opportunity to try this ‘iRiff’ experiment they rolled out a few years ago,” he said. “Having evolved from MST3K, to Film Crew, to RiffTrax, by inspiring writers and performers like us, Mike, Kevin and Bill have ensured that the legacy of riffing will carry on after they have put down the mic for good and kick back and just be worshipped.”

RiffTrax continues to pave the way for other riffers. With the funds raised on the crowdfunding site, RiffTrax is working on what may be the riffing world’s grand coup: Live riffing the worst movie ever (as voted by RiffTrax fans) — the chaste vampire saga “Twilight” — with the studio’s blessing.

RiffTrax will now take the money and work out an agreement with Summit Entertainment and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. If that doesn’t succeed, RiffTrax moves to the second-worst movie ever, “Batman and Robin.” Failure to secure those rights means it’s on to negotiate for the third-worst movie ever, “Catwoman.” And so on.

“We don’t have the luxury of getting a movie that’s a first-run movie. And people are always suggesting those movies like, ‘Why don’t you do “Titanic?” ’ We don’t own ‘Titanic.’ But if people really want us to do it and put something (money) behind it, we’ll do it,” said Nelson, whose success allows him to riff full time. In fact, he bought RiffTrax from Legend Films last year with partner and former Legend CEO David G. Martin.